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Wednesday, 5 August 2015

The world's most valuable public company saw its stock price drop for a fifth straight day on Tuesday

Apple shares are now down 14 percent since closing at a record $133 in February

That loss breaks down to $113.4billion in paper wealth

iPhone sales were not quite as good as some analysts predicted, and the lukewarm forecast for the current period is causing the drop

Apple is slumping as the usually high-flying tech stock struggles with the burden of raised expectations.

The world's most valuable public company saw its stock price drop for a fifth straight day on Tuesday, falling as much as $5.19 or 4.4 percent, to $113.25 as investors fretted over China's economy and whether Apple can keep growing at the pace it's maintained over the last few quarters.

Apple shares are down 14 percent since closing at a record $133 in February. That puts Apple in a 'correction,' which is Wall Street jargon for price declines of 10 percent or more from a peak.

That loss breaks down to $113.4billion in paper wealth according to USA Today.

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Bad times: The world's most valuable public company saw its stock price drop for a fifth straight day on Tuesday (Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks above at an October 2014 event)

The stock also dropped below its 200-day moving average, a technical indicator that traders use to gauge momentum.

Apple sold more than 47 million of its signature iPhones in the last quarter, or 35 percent more than a year earlier. That drove the company's profit and earnings above Wall Street estimates.

But iPhone sales were not quite as good as some analysts predicted, and executives gave a lukewarm forecast for the current period. That has sent the stock into a decline since Apple reported earnings on July 21.

Shareholders are also worried about recent hiccups in China's economy, because the country is viewed as one of Apple's biggest markets for expansion, said Daniel Ives, a managing director and senior analyst for FBR Capital Markets.﻿